Grip or handle.



A. E. LARD.

GRIP OR HANDLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1911.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

[N'VEXTO/P Illi! ll vlllilaiilll v 1?. 2:5 1 $3 18 ama :55

WITNESSES Wfi g ALLAN E. LABD, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

GRIP OR HANDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patentd Feb, 13,1Q121 Application filed November 4, 1911. Serial Ito. 658,804.,1"?

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that-I, ALLAN E. LARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Grips or Handles, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to an improved grip or handle, the construction and advantages of which will be hereinafter set forth. reference being had to the annexed drawings, wherein;

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of one form of the handle, the lower portion of the grip-element being shown free or in that position which it assumes when it is being wound in place; Fig. 2 anelevation of the completed handle of the form shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 an elevation of a port-ion of a stick or club, showing the; grip applied directly thereto, with the finishing cap -'and ferrule in section; Fig. 4 a side elevation, showing a modified form of means for securing the grip in place; Fig. 5 a perspective view illustratin the tool employed for positioning such nishing or retaining means; Fig.' 6 a sectional elevation of a modified form of the grip member; and Fig. 7 a side view showing the grip as applied to a bat.

The object of the present invention is to provide a grip which will. under all conditions of weather and until worn out, prevent the hands from slipping, and one which at the same time will be durable and likewise pleasant to the feel and easy upon the skin.

The grip is applicable tothe handles of various playing or sporting clubs or implements, and while pariticularl adapted for use in connection with golf clubs it has a wide field of application and may .be placed upon any handle adapted to be gripped and held by a person.

It is well known to all users of golf-clubs that temperature, wind and moisture conditions affect the grip, and it is common to apply various sticky materials to the handle of the golf-club or the like during the varying conditions, in an effort to secure a grip which will not slip, a feature very essential in the playing of golf. There have been proposed grips which are 'more or less sticky or tacky in their nature, .or which have corrugated or pebble surfaces, all of.

which wear smooth in a very short time.

Rubber grips have been proposed, generally in the form of a tubular sleeve designed to be drawn down over the end of the'shaft. These when thin have no durability, and when thicker allow the hands to move with the rubber as the latter yields under action. When made firm by using rubber less pure they soon wear slick.

The application of the sticky or tacky material to thegrip during play is more or less objectionable, being frequently too sticky when first applied and not sufficiently sticky after a little use, the grip rarely feeliri or being twice the same. In cold weatherilit is quite useless. Moreover, the use of such material is both hard on the hands and unpleasant to the touch.

Most club-grips which are now in use are wound in strip form spirally about the handle ,of the club, the contiguous edges of the strip overlapping. Such construction has its objections, for the reason that various portions of the body of the strip may move lengthwise of the handle, thus deforming the same and presenting edges which under the grip of the user will curl up and thus affect the contour and evenness of the grip.

Under the present construction no thin edges are present and the structure is such that there will be no displacement of the various convolutions of the grip-member. Furthermore, the grip will be efficient under various conditions being found particularly efiicient in wet weather, when itv is impossible to keep the handles of clubs or the like dry.

In a broad sense the grip may be said to comprise a rubber member wound spirally about the shaft or supporting element, the contiguous edges of the convolutions presenting a rounded or convex surface, so that there are no thin edges or ridges which can in use turn upwardly or outwardly.

In the preferred form of the grip member it comprises a tube secured at one end to the shaft or sustaining element, and wound spirally under suflicient tension to flatten the same around the shaft, and prevent any -undue movement or stretching of the rub- -ber under the action of the hands, the opprovided to cover the upper and lower ends of the grip. These will be of such a nature as to require no further attention or repair. In the ordinary grip the ,ends are projected and held by thread wrapping.

- These are constantly wearing out, and becoming loose.

Referring first to the constructioti shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 1 denotes a tubular sleeve or member formed of pasteboardi' or the like, and about which there is spirally wound a rubber tube 2, said tube being placed under such tension as it is wound about the sleeve as to flatten the tube and bring it'into the condition before referred I to. and shown most clearly in the sectional portion of Fig. 1. The upper end of the tube may be fastened in any way, as by a tack 3 or a staple 4, or both, and the lower end secured in a similar manner, as shown in Fig. 2. Prior to the positioning of the rubber tube upon the sleeve, the latter may have applied thereto a coating of waterproof glue, rubber cement or the like, al;

though in practice this has not been found necessary in order to retain the tube in its position upon the sleeve. A rubber cap 5, the lower end of which is tapered and rounded, will preferably be drawn over the upper end of the sleeve and the firstfew convolutions of the tube or rubber member. A grip formed in this manner may be sold as an article of manufacture and placed upon the shaft of a golf-club by almost anyone, the use of glue or a suitable cement insuring a rigid connection between the shaft and the sleeve 1.

The grip may be applied directly to the shaft, as in Fig. 3. The upper end of the grip or tubular member designated by 2,

as in theother figures, will be secured to the shaft 6 by a staple 7, or any other suitable fastening means. It will befwound around the shaft with the adjacent edges t5 of the convolutions in contactwith each other throughout the length of the grip, the rubber tube being placed under sufficient tension to flatten the same and cause it to bind firmly upon the shaft, for reasons hefore explained. ,As in the other construction, a cap-piece, preferably -of rubber, will be placed ove'rthe upper end and secured thereto by a screw 5' in the butt of the shaft, and a rubber sleeve, as 8, drawn, over the lower end of the grip, likewise extend tube is applied.

In Figs. 4 and 5 a similar grip is shown, but a different means of fastening the same 1s illustrated. About the upper end of the shaft and the upper portion of the 'grip. there is secured a split ring 9, said ring benomeee ing forced to place by a suitable tool, as shown in Fig. 5. The outer ends of the jaws. of the tool are slotted, as at 10, in order that screws 11 may be passed through openings formed in the ends of the ring, while the ring is held in its closed or tightened position. A similar ring 12, somewhat Wider and having the' form of a split sleeve, will be secured around the lower portion of the grip. The rubbrii' cap and sleeve, 5 and 8, are, however, pt 'eferred; They may be readily positioned ,Zwithout the use of any tool, and if found necessary secured in place by a suitable cement. i

It is not essential, in the broader aspect of the i11vention,that the grip should be formed of a tube. It may be made of a flat strip, having rounded edges, or a strip of rubber doubled upon itself, as shown in Fig. '6, said strip being designated by the refer ence numeral 13. The surface of said strip may be roughened by forming thereon a series of rounded projections 13*, whichcan be produced when the strip is made. In

both forms it will be noted that there are of the edges will take place, as is common with the ordinary grips which are now in extensive use. The slight depression or groove formed by the adjacent convex edges, together with the natural adhesion of the rubber, prevents the hand from slipping as the club-head impacts with the ball, thus 1 doing away with the tendency of the shaft to turn in the hands when the club is gripped in the proper manner. WVith the ordinary grip the only way to prevent this turning'is to grip very tightly and this is very liable to mar the stroke.

In the actual use of a golf-club, with a grip of the form herein shown, it has been found'that no sticky or tacky material is necessary in order to prevent the hand from slipping, even when the shaft is gripped very moderately, and changing weather con ditions likewise have no effect upon the grip. Inasmuch as it is waterproof, it does not become slippery when wet, and if wet it can be readily dried, which is not the case with the ordinary leather grip.

In Fig. 7 the grip is shown as applied to a baseball bat, the bat being designated by 14, and the ends of the grip passed into openings 15 and 16, respectively, where they may be secured in any desired. manner. It is conceivable that the grip will be found eflicient for the steering wheels of motor vehicles and of motor-,boats. Where the grip inade of the samej'color- .of rubber through and through, it will always present the same of the strip or tube employed and the degree of tension applied as the same is wound in place.

The term' supporting member as employed in the appended claims is used as a generic term, to include both the tubular ,sleeveishown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the shaft or handle, shown in the other figures, and to which the grip surface is applied and secured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A handle or ip, comprising a tubular sleeve and a ru ber member wound spirally around the same, the edges of said member being rounded.

2. A handle or grip, comprising a supporting member; and a-member composed of rubber throughout wound spirally around the same under tension, the edges of said rubber member being rounded.

3. A handle or grip, comprising a supporting member having a rubber member susceptible of elongation in the form of a strip wound spirally about the supporting member under tension, the ends of the strip being secured to prevent unwinding of the same, and the edges of the strip being rounded so that there are no thin or sharp portions exposed at the joints between the adjacent convolutions of the strip.

4. A handle or grip, comprising a supportingmember; a rubber tube wound spi-* rally around the same under tension; and means for securing the ends of the tube in position upon the supporting member.

5. A handle or grip, comprising a supporting member; a flattened tubular rubber member wound spirally about the same, the

adjacent convolutions of said flattened member contacting; and means for securing the ends of said tubular member in. position upon the supporting member.

6. A grip or handle, comprising a supporting member; a rubber tube wound spirally around the same under tension, with the convolutions of the tube in contact;

means for securing the ends of the tube to,

the supporting member; a cap egrtending over the outer end of the supporting member and the adjacent convolutionsgof the tube; and a sleeve overlying the opposite end of the tubular member and extendmg along the supporting member.

7. A grip surface, comprising a strip ofyielding material susceptible of elongation, having rounded edges, wound in spiral form under tension about a handle or supporting member. 8.-In a grip, the combination of a supporting member; and a grip surfaceicomposed of a strip capable of elongation under tension, said strip having rounded edges and being wound spirally about the supporting member'under tension.

9. A grip, comprising a supporting member; and a strip of rubber wound spirally in an elongated condition about said member, the adjacent convolutions abutting below the outer or gripv surface proper thereof, thereby producing a spiral groove or channel around the grip. '10. In a grip, the combination of a supporting member; a grip surface composed of a strip of rubber having a plurality of plies, said strip being. .susceptible of elongation and wound about the supporting member under tension and presenting rounded edges.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of .two subscribing witnesses.

ALLAN E. LARD. Witnesses:

HoiiAon A. Dooon, JOHN SCRIVENER. 

